45 Banks Closed in First Half

Five more banks have closed on June 26th, bringing the total for the first half of the year to 45. Two banks were in Georgia, two were in California and one was in Minnesota.

Let's start with Georgia. Community Bank of West Georgia's two locations in Villa Rica and Kennesaw were closed by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance which was unable to find another bank willing to take over operations. Direct deposits from the federal government such as Social Security and Veterans' payments will be transferred to United Community Bank's Villa Rica branch, but for existing balances, the FDIC began mailing out checks on Monday. Deposits were approximately $182.5 million.. The FDIC has estimated the cost to the insurance fund to make depositors whole is $85 million or 47 cents on the dollar.

The other Georgia bank to close on Friday was Neighborhood Community Bank in Newnan which was number 46 on my list. CharterBank in West Point, GA has taken over operations. Neighborhood Community had deposits of $191.3 million at 4 branches. The cost to the FDIC insurance fund is estimated at $66.7 million or 35 cents on the dollar.

In California, regulators closed MetroPacific Bank in Irvine and turned over $73 million in deposits to SunWest Bank of Tustin, CA. MetroPacific was number 44 on my list. The estimated cost to the deposit insurance fund is $29 million or 40 cents per dollar on deposit.

The other California bank closed on Friday was Mirae Bank in Los Angeles. Mirae, with $456 million and five branches had a large number of customers of Korean descent. The bank has been taken over by Wilshire State Bank, another Korean-American institution. Mirae's downfall was not residential mortgages but the two-thirds of its loans that were in commercial real estate. The FDIC estimates the cost to the insurance fund at $50 million or only 11 cents on the dollar.

In Minnesota, Horizon Bank in Pine City closed and the two offices reopened on Saturday as Stearns Bank, NA. Horizon had deposits of only $69.4 million and the estimated cost to the FDIC is $33.5 million or 48 cents per dollar of insured deposit.

So, striking two more, here's my current list of the 50 65 Banks Most Likely to Close in 2009.

1 Magnet Bank, Salt Lake City, UT
2 Citizens Community Bank, Ridgewood, NJ
3 FirstBank Financial Services, McDonough, GA
4 Westsound Bank, Bremerton, WA
5 Suburban Federal Savings Bank, Crofton, MD
6 America West Bank, Layton, UT
7 Silver Falls Bank, Silverton, OR
8 Ocala National Bank, Ocala, FL
9 Sun Security Bank, Ellington, MO
10 Eastern Savings Bank, FSB, Hunt Valley, MD
11 Alliance Bank, Culver City, CA
12 FirstCity Bank, Stockbridge, GA
13 Chestatee State Bank, Dawsonville, GA
14 First Security National Bank, Norcross, GA
15 Ocean Bank, Miami, FL
16 Family Bank and Trust Co., Palos Hills, IL
17 Southern Community Bank, Fayetteville, GA
18 BankCherokee, Saint Paul, MN
19 First Tuskegee Bank, Tuskegee, AL
20 Federal Trust Bank, Sanford, FL
21 Pinnacle Bank, Beaverton, OR
22 Lake Country Community Bank, Morristown, MN
23 Mesa Bank, Mesa, AZ
24 Bank of Wyoming, Thermopolis, WY
25 1st American State Bank of Minnesota, Hancock, MN
26 First State Bank of Altus, Altus, OK
27 EvaBank, Eva, AL
28 Strategic Capital Bank, Champaign, IL
29 Ebank, Atlanta, GA
30 Polk County Bank, Johnston, IA
31 Parkway Bank, Rogers, AR
32 Security Bank of Gwinnett County, Suwanee, GA
33 State Bank of Park Rapids, Park Rapids, MN
34 Herrin Security Bank, Herrin, IL
35 Omni National Bank, Atlanta, GA
36 Northpointe Bank, Grand Rapids, MI
37 Towne Bank of Arizona, Mesa, AZ
38 Timberland Bank, El Dorado, AR
39 Blue Ridge Savings Bank, Inc., Asheville, NC
40 First Piedmont Bank, Winder, GA
41 Select Bank, Grand Rapids, MI
42 Oxford Bank, Oxford, MI
43 Security Bank of North Metro, Woodstock, GA
44 MetroPacific Bank, Irvine, CA
45 Earthstar Bank, Southampton, PA
46 Neighborhood Community Bank, Newnan, GA
47 The Home Savings and Loan Company, Youngstown, OH
48 Heritage Community Bank, Glenwood, IL
49 Vineyard Bank, NA, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
50 Community Bank of Lemont, Lemont, IL
51 Mainstreet Bank, Forest Lake, MN
52 Mutual Bank, Harvey, IL
53 Freedom Bank of Georgia, Commerce, GA
54 Newton County Loan & Savings FSB, Goodland, IN
55 Riverside Bank, Cape Coral, FL
56 BankUnited, Coral Gables, FL
57 American Sterling Bank, Sugar Creek, MO
58 The Park Avenue Bank, New York, NY
59 First Commerce Community Bank, Douglasville, GA
60 Centennial Bank, Ogden, UT
61 Warren Bank, Warren, MI
62 Peoples First Community Bank, Panama City, FL
63 Corus Bank, Chicago, IL
64 Butler Bank, Lowell, MA
65 Republic Federal Bank, Miami, FL